Veteran Coachella Valley news anchor Kris Long is drawing public scrutiny — and support — after publishing a 400-word Facebook post defending Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from an accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted an acquaintance as a teenager.

Long's public post, published a few minutes before 4 pm on the afternoon of Sept. 17, ignited an impassioned debate on Facebook over the veracity of the assault claim as well as whether Long had crossed an ethical line as a journalist by publishing his views on social media.

CBS Local 2 general manager Jerry Upham said in a Sept. 18 statement that the station is “addressing this issue internally.” On Sept. 19, Upham wrote in an email that Long's suspension would continue, but did not specify for how long.

"Kris Long will be off air again tonight as we continue to review the situation," Upham wrote. He did not return phone calls asking for a follow up comment.

In Long’s Facebook post, the news anchor wrote he has “absolutely no problem” with the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, but said the allegation against Kavanaugh amounts to “lesser miscreant behavior” by a teenager.

“You are beyond dreaming if you think 17 year old boys are not going to misbehave from time to time as they begin to attempt relationships with the opposite sex,” Long wrote. “That is just the way we animals are made!”

Long later deleted the post and wrote an apology, at the request of station management, he said.

“Perhaps I may have broken our social media standards by putting my article a little bit too far to one side,” Long said.

Long said he stands by the remarks in his post, and believes they were fair, but would like to have emphasized in the post that he understands the trauma of sexual assault and the inability of some victims to report it initially. He said he believes rape is "one of the most heinous of crimes.”

“I wish I hadn’t a written (the post) because it’s caused me a lot of headache," he said.

Kris Long, a CBS Local 2 anchor, published this post about an allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on September 17, 2018. Long later deleted the post and published a brief apology.(Photo: The Desert Sun)

The ethics policy of the Society For Professional Journalists, the nation’s oldest and largest professional journalism association, emphasizes fairness and advises journalists to “avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.” The organization’s ethics policy does not address social media activity specifically.

The belief that impartiality must be sought goes hand-in-hand with the longstanding practice of distinguishing between news coverage and opinion. News organizations traditionally separate news coverage from opinion by putting opinion pieces in an opinion and editorial section of the newspaper, or by designing programs to be either news or commentary, or by explicitly stating when a segment presents an opinion.

But Long’s comments come during a time when some in the journalism industry have called for a change from the traditional conception of objectivity, claiming it’s an illusion and should be discarded. Adherents to the belief that objectivity cannot be attained say that any journalist comes to their work with preferences and biases that are unavoidable, and that a better approach is transparency and openness about an individual’s opinions on the issues they cover.

That same month, Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, wrote a confidential letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, describing an interaction with Kavanaugh at a high school party, where both were drinking. She described him trying to remove her clothing against her will, then trying to stop her from screaming by covering her mouth with his hand.

Since the allegations became public earlier this month, and Ford further described the incident in a Washington Post article, the Senate Judiciary Committee has agreed to delay a vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

In his response to the allegation against Kavanaugh, Long wrote that no man “should be allowed to force himself on a young girl.”

He continued: “But to allow someone to accuse a fellow teenager of some lesser miscreant behavior from some four decades ago is, I feel, a real stretch.”

Long wrote that, if he were nominated for the Supreme Court, “they might have to enlarge the Senate hearing room to accommodate all the young women from the mid to late 1960's who felt that I had tried to go a bit too far!”

He also wondered why Ford did not come forward sooner and said her claim “stinks of political maneuvering.”

Judge Brett Kavanaugh(Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

The post drew more than 160 comments in the hours after Long published it.

Many readers were dismayed to read Long’s post, arguing that people skeptical of allegations like Ford’s are the reason many victims of sexual misconduct never speak about their experiences publicly.

Other readers expressed support for Long’s post, writing that they, too, found the timing of Ford’s allegation suspicious and believed Kavanaugh should be considered innocent until proven guilty. Some defended Long’s right to share his opinion.

Long on the morning of Sept. 18 replaced the original post with a brief apology.

“This is a sensitive and controversial subject and I apologize for any offense that this has caused,” he wrote.

In a statement, Upham, CBS Local 2 general manager, said Long's post "does not represent the views of CBS Local 2 or that of Gulf California Broadcast Company. We realize this is a sensitive subject and apologize for any offense this has caused.”

“Our goal is to bring objective news to our viewers and we will continue our commitment to do that both on air and online,” he said.

In an interview, Upham said the television station became aware of the post the morning of Sept. 18, and that the station is still considering any possible reprimand or punishment for Long.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh waits to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the third day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 6, 2018.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Kelly McBride, senior vice president and media ethicist at the nonprofit Poynter Institute journalism school, said journalists are increasingly finding their social media posts are subject to public scrutiny. But she said whether a specific post violates ethical standards is a difficult question, in part because news outlets tend to craft their own policies rather than adhere to a uniform industry standard.

“When it comes to a very specific case – when you’re asking ‘Did a journalist cross a line?’ – the only person who can answer that question is his boss,” she said.

If she were Long’s station manager, McBride said she would likely ask for Long to apologize and then use journalism to explore the issues raised in the comments section of Long’s post, like whether people should be held accountable for their actions – including alleged assault – as teenagers.

“If I were his boss, I wouldn’t fire him over it,” she said.

*Editor's note: An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information about the date of Ford's letter to Sen. Feinstein.

Amy DiPierro covers business and real estate at The Desert Sun in Palm Springs. Reach her at amy.dipierro@desertsun.com or 760-218-2359.